
Melvin Gibbs
“The greatest bassist in the world.” – Time Out New Yorl
Melvin Gibbs is a composer, musician, artist, and writer born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. and he is the 2019 winner of JazzTimes Magazine’s Critics Poll in the Electric Bass category.
For Big Ears Festival 2025 Melvin will be doing a solo performance he calls a “pirate transmission” that in addition to his bass playing, features him on electronics playing his Ableton Push and Lyra 8 synthesizer.
He has a notable disregard for musical and disciplinary borders. His projects include a collaboration with theoretical cosmologist and saxophonist Stephon Alexander, the author of “The Jazz Of Physics”, called God Particle, and Elevated Entity, a pioneering mix of Yoruba religious music, hip-hop, and jazz. Melvin is currently writing a book, “The Science Of Black Music,” which will be published by Basic Books early in 2026.
In 2022, Editions Mego released Anambia Sessions Vol. 1: The Wave, an album of avant-electronic music that prompted magazine The Wire to say, “Gibbs can’t help but remain a fascinating artist.” In 2021, Northern Spy Records released his EP “4 + 1 equals 5 for May 25,” a meditation on the murder of Mr. George Floyd and its aftermath.
He has composed music for films, installations, and performances for visual artists, including Matthew Barney, Stan Douglas, and Arthur Jafa.
For 20+ years, he has been a member of the band Harriet Tubman, who The New York Times noted for giving one of “The Best Jazz Performances of 2017” and NPR said gave “The Best Jazz Performance of 2018”.
His wide-ranging musical resume includes membership in the bands Defunkt, The Decoding Society, Power Tools with Bill Frisell & Ronald Shannon Jackson, the alt-rock Rollins Band (where he was nominated for a Grammy), The Zig Zag Power Trio with Vernon Reid and Will Calhoun of the band Living Colour, Socialybrium with Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Bernie Worrell, and Body Meπa alongside Sasha, Frere-Jones, Greg Fox, and Grey McMurray, a group Pitchfork Magazine called an “avant-rock supergroup.”
His performance and production credits include work with David Byrne, dead prez, Sonny Sharrock, Caetano Veloso, Wadada Leo Smith, Eddie Palmieri, Arto Lindsay, and DJ Logic, to name a few.